1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a zoom lens and an imaging apparatus, and more specifically to a zoom lens that can be used with electronic cameras, such as digital cameras, video cameras, broadcasting cameras, motion picture cameras, surveillance cameras, and the like, and an imaging apparatus equipped with the zoom lens.
2. Background Art
Heretofore, downsizing has been demanded for telephoto zoom lenses installed in the cameras of the foregoing fields. Relatively compact telephoto zoom lenses that have been proposed so far may include, for example, those described in Japanese Patent No. 4880498 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7(1995)-159693. The zoom lens described in Japanese Patent No. 4880498 includes a positive first lens group, a negative second lens group, a positive third lens group, and a positive fourth lens group disposed in order from the object side, and zooming is performed by moving the second lens group and the third lens group. The zoom lens described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7 (1995)-159693 includes a positive first lens group, a negative second lens group front group, a negative second lens group rear group, and a positive third lens group disposed in order from the object side, and zooming is performed by moving the second lens group front group and the second lens group rear group.